In 1877, the British colonial administration established a Chinese Protectorate, headed by William Pickering, to address the pressing issues faced by the Chinese community in the Straits Settlements, especially in Singapore, Penang, and Malacca. A significant concern was the rampant abuses in the coolie trade, where Chinese laborers faced severe exploitation, and the protection of Chinese women from forced prostitution. The Protectorate aimed to regulate the coolie trade by requiring coolie agents to register, thereby improving labor conditions and reducing the need for workers to go through exploitative brokers and secret societies.

The establishment of the Chinese Protectorate brought about tangible improvements in the lives of Chinese immigrants. With the Protectorate's interventions, there was a noticeable increase in Chinese arrivals from the 1880s as labor conditions improved. The institution played a pivotal role in reshaping the labor market, ensuring that employers could directly hire Chinese workers without the interference of secret societies or brokers, which had previously dominated the labor trade.

Furthermore, the Chinese Protectorate actively worked to improve the general living conditions of the Chinese community. It frequently inspected the conditions of domestic servants, rescuing those in inhumane situations and offering shelter at Singapore's Home for Girls. The Protectorate also aimed to curtail the influence of secret societies by mandating all Chinese social organizations, including the secretive and often criminal "kongsi," to register with the government. By doing so, they offered an alternative avenue for the Chinese community to seek assistance, weakening the grip of secret societies on the populace.